I commute on the Georgia Street viaduct every workday. From downtown, the viaduct shoots me homeward on my bike, into Chinatown and Strathcona in less than two minutes. That said, you can count me amongst those in agreement with city planners who want to blast the Georgia Street viaduct into oblivion.
The 44-year-old concrete leviathan is not only an eyesore, but according to those same planners, the viaduct is prone to collapse should even a moderate earthquake hit. Downtown planner Holly Sovdi was recently quoted as saying the viaduct also creates a “physical and psychological barrier” between East Van and the False Creek waterfront, which I agree with.
So indeed, get rid of it, but get rid of the viaduct for the right reasons: the betterment of the city, not the betterment of developers’ wallets.
One of the primary reasons real estate is so expensive in Vancouver is because of the sheer lack of land. Like Manhattan or San Francisco, we are mostly surrounded by water, which means there’s only so much dirt to go around, which makes that dirt very, very valuable. When we find more of it within our city boundaries, especially so close to downtown, it’s precious and should be treated very carefully. Getting rid of that viaduct suddenly frees up a lot of unused, high stakes Vancouver real estate.
So what to do with it? Here’s what we should not do: replace the viaduct with a forest of condo towers. Towering condos are another result of limited land. If you can’t sprawl, you build up, but enough with that already. With the removal of the viaduct, it gives us a chance to actually create something special, a potentially entire new neighbourhood, right next to downtown.
The soccer fields and green space to the north of the viaduct should stay. So should the skateboard park currently located directly under the viaduct. What should be added are narrow, tree-lined streets, bike lanes, and neighbourhood-friendly, two and three story townhouses… and maybe even -gasp- single-family freestanding homes? Dare to dream.
Just a few blocks from this potential future neighbourhood, there just happens to be another community in a state of flux. The Downtown Eastside is very quickly becoming gentrified, which means “renovictions”, which means the possible displacement of a large number of people, some of whom have nowhere else to go. This newfound land right next door could be a prime site for a healthy percentage of social housing.
Cities around the world have seen previously dirty, unused spaces under freeways and viaducts come alive in very positive ways once major roadways are removed. Vancouver now has a chance do the same thing. We just have to do it right. Get rid of it, and I will gladly find a different bike route home.
